University of Massachusetts-Boston
Public Research University in Boston, MA. Six-year graduation rate 49%. Median 10-year earnings $65,865.
Ten-year median earnings of $65,865 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. Six-year completion sits at 49%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $21,974, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.33 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 84% puts University of Massachusetts-Boston on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. The applicant pool is large — 21,262 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. A 12% yield rate is low: the admitted pool is much larger than the entering class. The score bands below rest on the 32% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 540–650 | 692 (32%) |
| SAT Math | 530–640 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–29 | 45 (2%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Massachusetts-Boston →Academics
Completion is middling: 49% finish inside six years. 70% of full-time first-years come back for year two, so about one in three are gone before sophomore year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. A 27% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Retention drops to 46% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 11,686 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Average net price after grant aid is $17,768 a year — mid-range for a four-year institution. The income table below is the number that matters — $14,070 at $0–30k versus $25,571 at $110k+. About 77% get grants averaging $13,567, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 53% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 2,406 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $14,070 |
| $30–48k | $13,558 |
| $48–75k | $15,663 |
| $75–110k | $20,885 |
| $110k+ | $25,571 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 6,237 of these 11,686 students, totalling $40,265,272 — an average of $6,456 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Suffolk County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)